Impact player Karn Sharma and Mitchell Santner took five wickets collectively as a superb bowling performance saw Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Capitals by 12 runs and register a superb come-from-behind victory to get their second win of IPL 2025 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.
Karun Nair, playing his first IPL game of the season, played a breathtaking 89 as DC’s impact player and clinching a win looked like a cakewalk for DC. But losing five wickets in six overs, including of Karun, after the tenth over got MI back in the match.
Despite Ashutosh Sharma and Vipraj Nigam threatening to pull off another heist for DC, their sub-par batting and MI’s excellent fielding plus bowling, along with ball change after the 13th over, ensured the hosts’ were all out for 193 in 19 overs. It also meant that DC’s winning juggernaut has been brought to a halt on return to their home turf.
Chasing 206, DC lost Jake Fraser-McGurk on the first ball when he chipped to cover off Deepak Chahar. After Abishek Porel opened his account with a cracking cover drive off Chahar for four, Karun took on Trent Boult by hitting three delightful fours – a cover drive was followed by a crunchy cut shot and another glorious drive.
MI’s move to bring in Jasprit Bumrah didn’t give the desired control as Karun lofted him over cover for four, before slashing him between cover and point for another boundary. After Karun slashed Chahar to bring up DC’s fifty in just fifth over, Bumrah was again taken to the cleaners as the batter whipped and lofted inside-out with sumptuous ease before a brace got him his fifty in 22 balls.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli and Phil Salt smashed half-centuries to power Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a nine-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2025 clash at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday.
Chasing 174, the 92-run opening partnership between Salt and Kohli in 8.4 overs set the tone of RCB’s win as the duo scored runs at their will. RCB had an electrifying start with Salt taking the charge from the first ball of the innings.
Rajasthan got an early chance to break the partnership but Riyan Parag dropped Kohli for 7 in the fourth over off Sandeep Sharma.
Salt continued the onslaught with a four and six respectively off Maheesh Theekshana’s first over just before the powerplay. He continued his blistering knock with six off Sandeep Sharma before being dropped by Yashasvi Jaiswal. RCB were 65/0 after six overs.
Salt completed his second half-century of the season in 28 balls with a four against Wanindu Hasaranga. He charged the Sri Lankan to a six over deep midwicket in the same over.
Kumar Kartikeya brought respite to Rajasthan with Salt’s wicket in the ninth over. He departed after contributing 65 off 33 balls studded with six sixes and five fours.
Devdutt Padikkal joined Kohli in the middle. The duo continued the momentum with Padikkal taking the aggressor’s role as Kohli completed his third half-century of the season in 40 balls. It was also his 100th half-century in T20 cricket, making him the first Indian batter to do so.
Kohli pulled up his scoring rate after reaching the milestone and smacked six off Hasarange to complete a 50-run stand for the second wicket with Padikkal. He wrapped up the over with a four to accumulate 14 runs from it.
RCB were on cruise control mode with Padikkal flexing his arms all around the ground to take the side over the line as quickly as possible.
With Padikkal sending Tushar Deshpande to the cleaners for a four and six on successive balls, there was no room for Rajasthan to make inroads in the match.
Agencies
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